[Sca-cooks] Lemons in Middle English

[Laura C. Minnick]

All right, I'm tired of this thread, but-

This is NOT proof of the use of lemons (or indeed any citrus fruit) _IN 
CUISINE_ in England, but is of interest in a literary sense.

The word 'citryn' appears in the Canterbury Tales, as the description of a 
yellow color.

It is in the description of Arcite, in the Knight's Tale. Lines 2165-2167 say:

"His crispe heer lyk ringes was yronne,
And that was yelow, and glytered as the sonne.
His nose was heigh, his eyen bright citryn,"

All of my glosses have 'citryn' as 'lemon colored', but there is also the 
possibility that a green-yellow or yellow-green is indicated- after all- 
humans do not generally have yellow eyes, but some do have green eyes.

The word 'lemon' in any spelling does not appear in Chaucer's works.

'Lainie
___________________________________________________________________________
O it is excellent to have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous To use it 
like a giant--Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act II